Next Phase Newsletter

By Greg Mannix, Vice President International Business Development, General Manager Europe, LSN

We have all heard that 2023 was a difficult year for early-stage funding. One theory is that pharma M&A activity lagged and reduced the incentive for investment into new life sciences funds, combined with the general expectation that a global recession was coming, leading VCs to invest mainly in their current portfolio companies and not so much into new ventures.

Thankfully, the recession didn’t materialize, and some pharma execs point to favorable conditions that connote an uptick in M&A activity that will bring a kind of trickle-down effect and benefit the early-stage folks. The impressions I have gathered at this year’s first two RESI conferences have been upbeat about the months ahead.

In Europe, I have always been impressed by the government-backed grant and other funding programs available in each country to help the earliest startups get off the ground. These programs are augmented by excellent EU initiatives like Horizon and EIT. But what happens when European biotech and MedTech startups need to raise larger amounts to move their technologies along on the road to commercialization?

That’s where companies hit a wall; there isn’t enough venture capital on the old continent to fund all the fantastic technologies being developed. A European investor recently told me about one of his very successful portfolio companies that was at a stage where they needed to raise a significant round. Having difficulty finding sufficient co-investors in Europe, they eventually brought in a US investor to complete the round. This was only possible thanks to the European and US investors already having a relationship.

At LSN it has long been our goal to facilitate cross-border relationships, not only between companies and investors, but also between investors from different regions or countries. RESI Europe – Barcelona on June 17-19, 2024 is shaping up to be an especially international gathering. Hope to see you there!

A USA-based VC firm builds and invests in companies in the healthcare sector, with a focus on personalized health and consumer health.  The firm typically invests in seed or Series A rounds and initial investments range from  $150,000-$1.5 million, with a potential commitment of up to $5 million over the life of the investment.  The firm invests in the USA and Canada. 
 
The firm focuses on healthtech and tech-enabled health services. The firm is interested in disease management (includes chronic, autoimmune, mental/behavioral, neurology, microbiome, and digital therapeutics), care management, precision medicine, remote monitoring (including pushing the point of care into ambulatory settings such as retail clinics and the home), population health management (including underserved patients and Medicaid recipients, and patients living in areas outside the East Coast and West Coast).  The firm is also open to investing in devices and diagnostics, but only if they are targeted at consumers/patients as users, rather than physicians. 
 
The firm generally does not invest in companies that face FDA regulatory risk; the firm invests in companies with products that are already approved or do not require FDA approval. The firm prefers to invest in revenue generating companies but will consider startups that will begin to generate revenue in 6-12 months.

If you are interested in more information about this investor and other investors tracked by LSN, please email salescore@lifesciencenation.com.   

Founded in 2019, a global venture capital firm specializes in investing in early-stage medical device companies. The firm is an active investor and can leverage their expertise and industry resources to provide support in many aspects. The firm prefers taking a leading role in investment rounds and may seek board seats in such cases. 
 
The firm focuses on medical devices and is open to looking at all subsectors and indications. The firm seeks innovative technologies, primarily investing in Class III devices and occasionally considering Class II devices if they demonstrate innovation. The firm is open to working with companies of all stages, including those in the early, “idea phase”. 
 
The firm prefers founding teams that have solid scientific expertise in their respective field and comprehensive knowledge of the space. 

If you are interested in more information about this investor and other investors tracked by LSN, please email salescore@lifesciencenation.com.   

By Joey Wong, Senior Investor Research Analyst, Hong Kong BD, LSN

As a global conference series, RESI has organized events in North America, Europe, and Asia. This year, LSN (Life Science Nation) is bringing back our first RESI Europe since Covid, taking place in Barcelona, Spain on June 17th, 2024, and we are excited about expanding RESI’s global footprint and fostering connections and deal-making in Europe. For this highly anticipated conference, LSN has carefully curated a program of 10 investor panels covering a wide range of pertinent topics for early-stage investments and fundraising in life sciences and healthcare.

The panels at RESI Europe aim to bring forward a diverse group of investors and strategic partners, providing a comprehensive representation of the current investor landscape. This includes big pharma and corporate VCs, players capable of working with companies of all stages with various deal structures. The panels will also highlight groups that focused on providing early-stage funding, such as angels & family offices, and seed funds. Additionally, panels at RESI Europe will delve into different sectors or target areas, from the traditional “4 Ds” – drug/therapeutics, medical devices, diagnostics, and digital health – to innovative hot areas such as oncology innovation. Additionally, a panel will discuss cross-border investments, and how investors partner internationally. Please see the panel agenda below:

Whether you are an entrepreneur seeking funding or an active investor, these panels offer a full day of exceptional learning experiences along with your scheduled partnering meetings. Through organizing these investor panels, our goal is to provide entrepreneurs with valuable insights into early-stage fundraising and bridge the gap between entrepreneurs and investors, facilitating more efficient deal-making processes. For active investors in early-stage life sciences and healthcare, this also presents an unparalleled opportunity to share your investment strategies and highlight your firm/fund to a global audience. If you are interested in speaking at RESI Europe, please contact us.